It took Ted a few minutes to realize he hadn’t seen Carlos in days. In fact, the two Dutch neighbors had vanished as well. But as he sat across from Carlos now, watching the old man’s lips smack against the beer bottle, Ted couldn’t understand why he even cared about any of this. Why did this nosy retiree matter to him so much, the guy who even looked like trouble? Why was he wasting his time watching this smacking-lipped man? Had no one ever told him that a beer bottle isn’t a pacifier, and it really doesn’t need to make that noise? Why couldn’t he just drink the expensive beer quietly—especially since he didn’t even pick the cheap ones? Those were right up front! But no, Carlos had no problem digging all the way to the back of the fridge for the premium stuff. What a shameless guy.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ted cautiously glanced toward the pool.
“They’re still out there,” Carlos chuckled.
Ted grimaced.
He didn’t feel like chatting with Carlos about the three women. In fact, why had he even sat down next to him, like they were some kind of buddies?
“Aren’t you going to ask me how Bangkok was?” Carlos teased.
Ted shrugged.
“So, how was Bangkok?”
“What do you think?” the old man shot back sarcastically.
“I have no idea, Carlos. I haven’t been to Bangkok in ages. I don’t even know when you were there or what you were doing. Why would I be asking you now? I’m not exactly planning a trip there…” Ted grumbled in confusion.
“I was there just now, my friend,” Carlos snapped, his eyes bulging. “Don’t pretend you don’t know,” he growled.
Ted shrugged again.
“Fine, Carlos. Tell me, how was Bangkok?”
The old man studied the man with the Coke bottle glasses for a few tense moments, then gave a faint smile.
“Alright, alright. I was just testing to see if you really had nothing to do with it.”
Ted’s patience was wearing thin. He would’ve loved to tell Carlos to go take a long walk somewhere far away for wasting his time with this nonsense. But the women giggling by the pool made him hold back. He would’ve enjoyed showing Catwoman again what he was capable of when he was angry. But now, somehow, he didn’t want to stir things up. All he wanted was to be alone with that extraordinary woman who managed to crawl into all his thoughts and even showed up in his dreams.
Naked.
And Ted had never cared about nudity.
Until now.
Apparently, that had changed.
He shook his head.
“So?” he asked Carlos dryly. “What did you say? Did you like Bangkok or not? Not that I’m planning to travel anytime soon…”
“I didn’t say a word, mate.”
“Oh, then I must have misunderstood.”
“You misunderstood the silence?” Carlos gave an approving nod—if you could call it approving while it was paired with a mocking grimace and an exaggerated eyebrow raise. “Impressive, Ted. It’s not easy to misinterpret silence.”
He took a loud sip from his beer, then frowned as he realized the bottle was empty. His eyes automatically drifted toward the patio door, where the rest of the top-quality beers were waiting.
Ted caught the glance.
“Well, look at that. Time’s flown,” he said, checking his phone screen.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Carlos agreed. “I’ve been sitting here in the blazing sun for at least ten minutes when I could’ve already been down by the pool with our beer,” he winked.
“You’re out of beer,” Ted stepped right into the trap.
“That’s true! How thoughtful of you to mention it,” Carlos said, jumping up. “Shall I bring you one too?”
Without even waiting for an answer, he stepped into Ted’s house to grab two more bottles of premium beer.